My version of FAF & DD
by Hope Strong
Summary: This is my own version of "Fight Against Fate" and "Destiny Defeated", a slight parody of all those "Author's versions" out there. puppy eyes and baby voice this is my first funny fic, so please be kind in your reviews...


Disclaimer: The Power Rangers Time Force, characters names, distinctive likenesses and all related indicia are copyrighted trademarks of Buena Vista entertainment, used here without permission for non-profitable purposes.

Author's note: I just want to state clearly that this is, underneath it all, a very subtle parody of some of those TF fics that represent the author's idea of how the show should have gone. Since these authors involve often dramatic and extreme changes to the original storyline and present characters completely OOC, I've added some of that to my story. This is not my style of writing my serious stories. Any inconsistence in the plot or the characters you may find has been coldly calculated. Enjoy.

**My Version of "Fight against Fate" "Destiny Defeated"…Or Everybody else is doing it, so why can't I?**

By: Shirley Chong.

After the battle was finished, Trip approached Jen and asked: "You still worried, huh?"

She nodded, looking hard to the horizon: "Yes, we have to capture Ransik before the future changes."

"It's too late," a voice floated in, barely audible. A figure dressed in white walked towards the surprised rangers slowly and carefully, with long calculated strides, stopping about two feet from Jen. "History's already shifted." He moved his arm up slowly, to remove the sunglasses and uncover a pair of piercing green eyes. "And I'm here to set it back on track."

Jen stared at him for a few seconds, the impact of what she was seeing sinking in slowly. The figure took a step closer and wrapped one arm around her waist, kissing her passionately, as he tilted her backwards. "Alex?" she asked, trying to catch her breath again, as the other rangers stared at the man, unable to believe their eyes either.

Wes took a step closer, and surprise showing in his voice said, "Unbelievable, you look just like me!"

Alex looked at him with a small smile. "Thank God, or the rangers would be dead by now." He offered a hand. "Alex Drake, it is an honor to meet you, Mr. Collins." Wes stood there, not knowing if he should shake the hand of his double, who was also Jen's fiancé, and pretty much alive.

Jen took a step closer, cautiously. Alex spread his arms for her and nodded softly. She jumped into his arms and buried her face in his neck, whimpering, "I thought you were gone forever!"

"I barely survived Ransik's attack," he told her, squeezing her tight against his body. "Oh, Jen, I've been so worried about you, I was so scared you hadn't found him!"

She parted from his body and looked at him. "I can't believe you're alive! Why weren't we told?"

"I got out of the hospital only a few days ago, to discover you are about to face a serious threat." He looked at Wes over his shoulder and his face saddened. "With aggravating circumstances."

"What type of aggravating circumstances?" she asked, also looking at Wes.

Alex chose to leave that information for later. "Look, we don't have much time, please follow me to the ship, there are some things I need to pick up." Alex nodded to the other rangers, and taking Jen by the hand, led the others to the ship.

Jen looked so happy she seemed to have swollen, an aura of happiness surrounding her, despite the seriousness of the situation. Wes stayed behind and felt a pang of jealousy when Jen moved towards Alex and put her head of his shoulder, causing him to let go of her hand and put his arm around her waist, pulling her close. She looked up and they shared a brief kiss, followed by a whispered conversation the others couldn't hear.

They walked towards the beach swiftly, and saw the time ship, landed on the sand, behind a cliff. Alex parted from Jen to open the door, and walked in, followed by the others.

Trip whispered in Katie's ear, "Should we fall in line?" Katie shrugged and asked Jen, who had finally sundered herself from Alex.

The pink ranger said, "I don't know, I think he's been promoted, but I'm not sure."

After they were all inside, Alex looked at them and said, "I know you have been functioning in a rather informal way lately, but I'm going to ask you to please stick to protocol as long as I'm here," answering their doubts. Then he added in a confidential voice, "I was just promoted, and I'm on trial, so please, form a line and salute, just because!"

The other rangers fell in line, standing firm, and saluted, saying in perfect unison, "Sir!"

"Who's in command of this unit?" he asked in a rather harsh voice which surprised Wes, he seemed to be an actor performing a role, and had changed completely from the nice man who had approached them.

Jen took a step forward and said, "I am, sir,"

"I'm taking over this unit from you." And unable to suppress a smile he added, "Captain."

"Captain?" Jen mouthed silently, but he gave her a warning look. "Yes, sir, I give up command over this unit."

"This unit is now under my command, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"All commands to be followed must come from me directly, understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"As you were," Alex ordered and the others gave one last salute and clashed their heels, then moved around, looking less comfortable than they did when following protocol.

Jen moved towards Alex immediately and asked, this time aloud, "Captain?"

Alex nodded. "Congratulations." She squealed and jumped into his arms again.

"I've been promoted to Captain!" she told the others, who cheered her and took turns to congratulate her.

While they did that, Alex approached Wes. "Mr. Collins?"

Wes looked up and smiled nervously, looking away from him as soon as possible. "Call me Wes."

"I don't think I can," Alex said. "It's such an honor to meet you."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, I was engineered to be physically an exact copy of you, it is also good to discover that we share some of the same moral values."

"I guess you are just preparing the ground to tell me you want your morpher back?"

"If only it were that simple." Wes looked at him questioningly. "First of all, that's your morpher. It was mine first, but it's yours, it's complicated, but you are not my replacement, I am your replacement. And I was sent here to take over from you the red ranger power, but for…" he hesitated. "Force majeure reasons."

"What force majeure reason?" Wes asked. "Is something going to happen to me?" Alex just looked down so Wes decided to leave the matter for the moment. "Why would they make a copy of me a thousand years in the future?"

"I'm not the only one there's been," Alex said. "You were very important to the history of Time Force, and also the city, many officers have honored you by designing their kids around your DNA." Alex looked at the clock on the computer console. "Look, Wes," he said the name tentatively, "I'm really sorry I had to come here, you have no idea." This solemn comment made Jen and the others approach the duo.

"What is the reason you are here?" Wes asked, now worried. Alex looked down at Wes's morpher, causing the blond man to bring it up and threaten, "Tell me, or I won't give it back." Alex just blinked and swallowed, then took a deep breath, as the morpher beeped and Eric's voice could be heard.

"Wes? I'm at the hospital, your father was attacked, it…" The voice trailed off for a moment. "It looks pretty bad."

Wes looked up at Alex, who just nodded. "This is it? This is the reason?" he asked. Alex nodded, and Jen moved forward to Wes and put a hand on his shoulder. "Is my father…" He couldn't bring himself to ask. "Is my father going to die?" Alex closed his eyes and shrugged. "You can't tell me?" Alex nodded. "So he is going to die?"

"Wesley, decisions are made every day, those decisions have consequences; you never know which action is what will change everything. Maybe your drinking a cup of coffee will cause your father to die, maybe your not drinking it will. I don't know if your father is going to die."

"But it's history for you now," he said.

"It's been a thousand years, Wes," Jen reminded him.

"Still…"

"Wesley," Alex said, his voice imperious and grave as it had been during the passing of command. "Your father is in the hospital, you have to be with him; you have to take control of Bio-Lab, that's the reason Time Force sent me, you can't save the world at the time."

"How long will you stay?" Jen asked Alex, her attention now fully on him.

He smiled at her and caressed her cheek. "I don't know. It depends."

"On whether my father dies or not?" Wes asked angrily.

"Among other things," Alex admitted.

"Wes, I know you are worried but this isn't Alex's fault," Jen cooed.

"I know, I'm sorry," the blond man said.

"Was that the Quantum Ranger?" Alex asked.

"Yes."

"Call him, tell him to please pick you up here and take you to the hospital," Alex said. "Give me the morpher and the worries for the universe, go and be with your father." Wes nodded and moved to hand him the morpher. "Call the Quantum Ranger."

"Right," Wes said and called Eric. "Eric? I-can you pick me up? I'm at the beach north of the town, I have no way of getting to the hospital quickly."

"I'll be right there," Eric growled.

"He sounds nice," Alex murmured, as Wes gave him the morpher. "Wesley?"

"Yeah?" the other asked from the door.

"Good luck, and best wishes to your father."

"Yeah, you too."

After Wes left, Alex moved towards the rangers. "I know you are worried about him and his father, but we have to leave those feelings behind. I'm taking a couple of things with me to your base of operations; I understand Mr. Collins provided you one."

"Yes," Jen said, being the only one remotely capable of talking.

"What do you want to take with you?" Katie asked.

"Those three cases," Alex said, pointing at three large yellow cases that looked more like trunks than anything else. Katie nodded and picked two of them up, one with each arm, while Lucas, Trip and Alex picked up the other one. Feeling useless, Jen offered to help, and Alex told her to lead the way.

After a torturous walk to the road, they managed to stop a passing cab, the driver staring intently at Alex who had put his sunglasses back on, probably confusing him with Wes but not saying anything.

The driver opened the trunk and offered Katie help with the cases, but Katie smiled and said "Thanks, I've got it." She put them in the trunk, and then the third one, with pretended help from Trip and Lucas, no need to raise any more suspicions.

"Where are we headed to?" the driver asked.

"The clock tower," Jen said simply.

"Clock tower?" Alex asked softly. Jen nodded.

"Are you those Nick of Time people?" the driver asked.

"That's us," Jen answered.

"I've heard a lot about you guys, you have a good share of satisfied clients." Not knowing what to answer, Jen just nodded awkwardly. Silence fell over them for a while. In the back seat, Lucas, Alex and Katie were squeezed against each other, as were Jen and Trip, sharing the front seat. After what seemed like forever, the driver pulled up and said, "Here we go, the clock tower and Nick of Time odd jobs."

"Thanks," Jen said and paid him with the money Lucas handed her, and got out of the car, while Katie took out the cases from the trunk. They waited for the taxi to drive away before picking up the cases and walking in.

"Alex, you ok?" Trip asked through gritted teeth after seeing Alex grimace.

"It's nothing, just my back, because of the weight."

"Let go, we'll do it," Lucas instructed.

"No, it's fine, I've got it."

"It's a high climb and there's no elevator, let go, we'll do it," Lucas insisted.

"Thanks," Alex said.

"You all climb up, leave that thing there, I'll come back for it," Katie said. "Wimps," she added softly.

They reached the top of the tower and Alex looked around curiously. "This is your base of operations?"

"Cool, isn't it?" Trip asked.

"Well, to each his own."

"Come look." Jen took Alex's hand and led him to the window. "From here we can see the whole town and nobody can see us!"

Alex took a moment to enjoy the sight and the wind on his face. "Trip is right, it's pretty cool," he said, moving back to the interior. "Let's open the cases," he said, removing his jacket.

"Why? You got us presents?" Jen asked.

"As a matter of fact..." Alex said.

"So Alex, how did you survive Ransik's attack?" Trip asked.

"Well, I don't know, I was unconscious during the whole process," Alex answered.

"Obviously," Trip said, sounding embarrassed.

"Hey, there's no need to be embarrassed, friend. I don't know what they did to me, and I'm much happier not knowing, I'm sure of that." Trip smiled along with Alex, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Let's hope you've kept some of those tricks you used to know," Lucas commented from the couch.

"I'm sure I can still kick your ass with my hands tied behind my back," Alex responded.

"Huh, you wish!" Lucas said over his shoulder.

Suddenly changing the subject, Alex said, "Where did you get those clothes?"

"From Wes, he thought it would be better if we blended in."

"Good thinking, you are doing undercover work," he congratulated. "Is there any of it left? I'd like to change to something more comfortable."

"This way," Jen said, leading him to the upper level. "I'll help you choose something nice." Alex followed her.

When they got upstairs, he took her in his arms and kissed her deeply. She kissed back, with longing and love. "I missed you," he whispered in her mouth.

"I mourned you," she said. He looked into her eyes while she caressed his face with her hand, looking on the verge of tears.

"Hey, it's ok now, I'm alive, I'm fine, we are together," he said. "No need to cry now." He kissed her again, softly.

"You are right," she said, slipping out of his arms to drag out the trunk with the clothes. "Let's see what we can find for you." She opened the trunk and began looking through the clothes. She finally pulled out a pair of jeans and a simple black tank-top. "Try these on."

"Anything more comfortable than jeans?" he asked, looking through the clothes himself and pulling out a pair of jogging pants in red. "I like these, can I wear them?"

"Sure," Jen said, moving towards the staircase.

"You're leaving?" he asked.

"Why? You need help getting dressed?" she asked with a mischievous smile.

"It wouldn't hurt," he said with a smile of his own.

She moved towards him and kissed him on the lips, while her hands moved downwards, to the rim of his pants. She pulled his shirt out of the pants and then unzipped it slowly, as a shiver ran down his spine with the contact with the fresh air and her feathery touch. She then moved her hands to his shoulders and pulled the shirt down his arms and chest, exposing his torso to her stare, full of yearning and need. She ran her hands down his chest and abs, feeling his muscle tense under his soft, hairless skin. Stepping closer to him, she slid her hands up to his shoulders and down his arms, finally taking his hands and leading him into wrapping her in a tight hug, as she kissed him passionately, her lips sucking his full lower lip for a second before her tongue slipped in to explore his mouth, velvety and moist, caressing it until his own tongue pushed hers back into her mouth and mirrored the caress on hers, making her tremble with passion and lust.

He squeezed her tightly and she could feel him through the heavy fabric of his pants, trapped but longing to be released, wanting to be free to be with her. As he buried his face in her neck, a voice floated upstairs from the main room.

"Jen, Alex," Katie called, making the pair stop in their tracks, breathing heavily and grimacing at the interruption.

"Yes?" Jen called back, looking at Alex apologetically.

"Circuit detected something big, extremely powerful and robotic on the beach," she said.

Jen looked at Alex who closed his eyes tragically. "I guess, one more time, we're going to have to take a rain check on us," he said, sadness showing in his eyes and voice.

She smiled at him and kissed him softly on the cheek. "It's ok, we'll kick them out in the evening, and have this whole place for ourselves."

Smiling, he grabbed the shirt he had taken from the trunk and put it on, moving towards the stairs. "Let's go and save the world, people!" he called.

They left the clock tower in a rush and ran to the beach, to find a giant robot emerging from the water it had splashed into. "What's that?" Lucas asked.

"It's Dragontron, Frax's new giant and almost indestructible robot," Alex said.

"Why would Ransik ask Frax to make a giant robot?" Trip asked.

"Ransik has got nothing to do with this, Frax separated from Ransik's ranks and is working solo now," Alex explained. "Look, we have to morph, and do our best to hold him back, until we can figure out a way to hit his power source safely."

"Safely?" Katie asked.

"Yes, one microscopic error in the calculations can cause Dragontron to blow up with the force of an atomic bomb, and take the megazord, us and the entire city with it."

"Ok, now I see the gravity of the situation," Lucas said.

" Congratulations," Katie said cruelly.

"Let's go!" Alex said, standing in front of them. "Time for Time Force!" he called, transforming into the red ranger.

"Time for Time Force!" the others called behind him transforming into the rest of the Time Force rangers.

"Circuit, we need the megazord!" Alex called.

"It's on its way, Alex," Circuit said. Not long after, the time fliers were flying above their heads. The rangers boarded them and Alex started the command to form the Time Force megazord, mode red.

Dragontron was distracted, with its view towards the city. Alex took a few moments to aim, trying to hit it in the power source correctly before it moved, but just when he was about to fire, Frax himself shot at the robot's back, causing it to turn.

"Damn, Frax warned him!" Alex cursed, getting the megazord ready to receive impact.

Dragontron moved towards the megazord, aiming multiple weapons at it. "What do we do now?" Jen asked.

"Let's break the megazord and fly in different directions, maybe we can't destroy it right now, but we can certainly damage it, or cause it to damage itself." Dragontron stopped in its tracks and unfolded the cannons hidden on his chest. "Go, now!" The megazord separated and each ranger flew in a different direction the moment the vicious robot shot. The blasts hit the rock behind them, making a cave.

"That would've hurt," Katie said.

"I heard that," Alex said. "Ok, let's fly around and try to…" he cut the phrase in half when an alarm went off in his zord.

"Alex, I'm losing all my power!" Jen called.

"I know, me too," he said.

"So am I!"

"And me!"

"I think I'm going down!"

"Everyone calm down!" Alex said. "Jump out and we'll see what's wrong with the zords, let's retreat!"

"What about your trial period?" Jen asked.

"If we die, I won't make it through either, let's retreat!" he ordered. They jumped out of the zords and landed on the beach, and found a hiding place from where they saw Frax and a few Cyclobots protecting a strange looking device.

"What's that?" Lucas asked softly, so they wouldn't be seen in their hiding spot.

"I have no idea," Alex confessed. "But we have to find out, are you guys up for a battle?"

"Yes!" they said eagerly.

"Whatever it is, we'll follow you," Katie said.

"To the end!" Trip added.

"Great. Then here's the plan…"

The four Time Force Rangers ran towards Frax with their blasters drawn out and pointing at him.

"Ooohh…It's the power rangers, we better run!" the robot mocked.

"Freeze! You're under arrest, Frax," Jen called.

"Really?" the robot said. "I don't think so! Cyclobots, attack!" The cyclobots moved towards the rangers and began attacking them. Frax supported his team by blasting the rangers whenever he considered it appropriate. While everyone was distracted, Alex watched, waiting for the right moment to either join the battle, or go through with his plan.

"You'll never defeat me, or my Dragontron! Not while I have my energy siphon sucking the energy out of your zords! Ha, ha, ha!" the robot said, as he grasped Jen's arm with his claw and threw her back into the battle, exhausted as she was.

"Jen!" Alex said softly, moving to enter the battle, but then he stopped, thinking it through. "An energy siphon, huh? Clever use of the secrets Steelix sold Ransik; problem is, I designed the energy siphons, Frax." He continued his whispered monologue as he approached, quiet as a feline, reached the apparatus and knelt by it.

Noticing Alex's presence, the rangers began to gather what was left of their energy, to keep Frax and the cyclobots distracted.

"Yes, destroy them, destroy all five of them!" Frax said. Then he stopped, looking suspiciously at the fight scene. "Wait a second," he began. "There's only four of you here!" He walked back towards his machine, to find Alex working on it, shielded by it. Frax shot him and Alex was thrown against the cement, his injured back getting another painful blow.

"Ha! You thought this was going to work?" he said, aiming at the fallen red ranger. He was about to fire, when he was blasted by Jen, who had shot him with her V weapon. As Frax looked towards her, Alex summoned his own V weapon and blasted the robot from a close range, causing serious damage to his arm. "Well, it did work!" Alex said, as he and Jen blasted the robot together, making him teleport away to avoid destruction.

"Alex, Dragontron is almost at the city!" Lucas said.

"You guys go to the zords, I'll release the energy back to them and try to suck out Dragontron's energy," he instructed.

"Should we wait for you to take the shot?" Jen said.

"No." He looked at her though the helmet and grabbed her hand. "You can do it, I trust you."

"Alex, that means the world to me," Jen said kneeling in front of him and removing her helmet. He took his own off and smiled at her.

"I love you, baby," he said. "Your presence in my life has been a blessing, I couldn't live without you, from the moment I saw you I knew we were meant to be together."

"Forever," she said, moving closer to him. "Oh, Alex, I love you too, so much, I need you to breathe, my love, when I thought you were dead I almost died myself."

"Oh, Jen," he said, holding her close to his body, "Baby…" he began.

"Yes?"

"There's a group of Cyclobots getting up from the ground and coming toward us," he said.

She lifted her head from his shoulder and put her helmet back on. "I'll deal with them," Jen said.

"No, I'll do it," said a harsh voice out of nowhere.

"Eric?" Jen asked.

"You stop the giant robot, the Silver Guardians and I will take care of these guys."

Alex, who had put his helmet back on in a rush, lowered his attention back to the machine as Jen ran past him whispering softly. "I love you."

"I love you, take care," he said. She boarded her zord, and he opened contact with Circuit. "Call the Time Shadow," he ordered.

"I'm on it, sir," the owl answered and did as he was asked. The skies went black for a minute and then the Time Shadow made its appearance, in megazord mode.

"Q-rex, arise!" Eric ordered and the Q-rex joined the battle, helping the Time Shadow to hold back Frax's vicious robot until the other rangers could finish him.

While the Silver Guardians guarded him from the cyclobots, Alex worked frantically to release the zords' energy from the siphon. After a minute of tampering with the controls, he managed to accomplish it, and the time fliers took off, forming the Time Shadow megazord in mode red, and working along with Q-rex to hold back Dragontron, while putting up with all the damage they were receiving.

* * *

Inside the time fliers, the rangers were waiting patiently for Alex to release the Zord's energy back to them. "Do you think he's ok?" Katie asked, worried.

"Eric and the Silver Guardians are helping him," Jen said.

"Let's just have a little bit more of faith in him, he was a ranger alone, and he did pretty well," Lucas said.

"Yeah, let's trust him," Trip said. "He won't let us down."

"He's unable to let anyone down," Lucas said admiringly. "He'll do it."

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the zords turned on, and were able to take off again. "He did it!" Jen celebrated.

"I knew he would, he's the greatest Time Ranger ever!" Trip added.

"I hate to admit it," Lucas said. "But that man rocks big time!"

"Now, let's do our little part," Jen instructed.

* * *

Alex tampered with the controls of the siphon again and began sucking Dragontron's energy, until it was critically low, and the evil robot stopped moving. "Jen, his energy levels are harmless to you now, shoot his power source and get done with it," Alex said.

"Ok," his girlfriend answered.

Alex moved forward and began helping the Silver Guardians with the fight. All the men in blue uniform stood there, fascinated by the exactitude and accuracy of Alex's moves. Eric, who was fighting by his side, asked, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Military high school," Alex said simply.

"You didn't go to a military high school," Eric said, looking at him.

"I'm not who you think I am," Alex said, kicking away a Cyclobot who was about to hit Eric from behind. "You need to pay more attention in battle."

"I don't need your lectures," Eric responded. Alex pushed him aside, and took his Quantum Defender from his belt and fired five shot in a row, hitting five cyclobots dead center. Eric looked at him, open mouthed under his helmet. "How do you make it look so easy?"

"It is easy," Alex said, handing him the Quantum Defender as a part of what seemed to be a gymnastics routine. "Are you going to help, or are you just going to sit there staring?"

"Oh, I didn't think you needed help," Eric said softly. "I don't know what happened to you, Wes, but you have become really amazing on the battlefield!"

"I told you, I'm not who you think I am," Alex said again, and that's when one of the cyclobots he thought he had destroyed blasted him from behind, causing him to fall on the ground, waves of unbearable pain running up and down his back, unable to move anymore.

Eric moved towards him quickly. "Are you ok?" he asked, but Alex didn't respond.

Above them, Dragontron exploded to pieces at a safe distance from the city and the other rangers, who in no time at all were running towards Alex, the cheers getting caught in their throats as they saw him lying on the ground.

"Alex!" Jen screamed and ran towards him, while the Silver Guardians quietly retreated, following their commander who took the chance to move away quickly, still thinking about the amazing moves he had just seen, and impatient to practice and try some of them.

"Baby!" Jen said, kneeling by Alex's side.

"I'm really proud of you, Jen," he whispered hoarsely. "I'm proud of you all."

"Hush, don't talk, rest," Jen cooed, caressing his hair, for he had unmorphed shortly after he had fallen.

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "It's ok, I'll be fine," he promised. "You and me..."

"Forever," Jen whispered, as he fell unconscious in her arms again. Jen looked up at the others. "Is he…?"

"No," Trip said after leaning in to take Alex's pulse. "He's just passed out." Jen smiled, relieved, and Katie approached them.

"Move away wimps, I'll carry the man home," she said.

* * *

Alex stirred softly, his back not hurting anymore. He felt a soft hand on his forehead and smiled, knowing to whom it belonged, even before he opened his eyes. "Jen," he mumbled.

"Hey," she whispered back. Good to see you awake," she commented. He felt her face near his, and she planted a soft kiss on his lips. "How do you feel?"

"Much better now," he said, finally opening his eyes. "What happened?"

"You passed out on the battlefield. I was so scared when I saw you there."

"It's my back. It still fails me every now and then, Ransik caused a lot of damage, they are not done repairing it, and that cyclobot hit the right spot."

"And still you came here?" Her voice not only showed surprise, but was also tinted with anger. "To battle? Alex, you should have stayed home, resting!"

"And leave you guys to fight Dragontron without Wesley? Without knowing what to do? Of course not! All of this, your lives, the city, history, is much more important than me, than my life." He moved his hand to her cheek and caressed it softly. "Besides, I couldn't wait to see you and feel you in my arms again," he said with the sweetest and most romantic voice he could conjure, a fact that didn't fail to melt Jen's heart.

"Aw, baby," she said, leaning in to kiss him again, an opportunity he used to wrap his arms around her and pull her over him, to lie by his side in the bed. She gave a little startled scream and then a short laugh.

He kissed her romantically and pressed his forehead against hers. "I love you so much, Jen. I can't wait until you are my wife."

"I can't wait to be your wife either," she confessed as she cuddled with him, both falling silent for a moment.

"Did you guys open the cases we brought from the ship?" he asked.

"Not yet," she answered. "We were waiting for you."

"Well, let's go, open them," he said getting up. "I brought presents."

She laughed and followed him downstairs, where the others were sitting on the yellow couch, watching a news report.

"Guys?" Jen asked, to call for their attention.

Katie turned and gave her a grim look. "Wes's dad was taken out of surgery just now."

"Oh," Jen whispered. "I hope it turns out ok," she said, looking at Alex.

"It will," he said simply, moving towards one of the cases they brought from the ship, and opening it on the picnic table.

He pulled out four discs, with a label that read: 'Classified, For Eyes Only.' The group moved towards him and he gave each the disc that corresponded to them according to the label. "Messages of support from your families, friends and fans," he said. "They are a bit outdated, about two weeks, but that's because I asked them to make these in time so I could bring them if I had to come here in a rush, which I did." There was a bit of small, general laughter to that. "Enjoy their words, I haven't heard them, but I'm sure they all had a lot of good things to say." He pulled out another disc and handed it to Jen, who looked at him, surprised when she saw the name written on it. "That disc is for Wes. All your families, my own family, some Time Force officers and a lot of other people contributed with a few words for him as well."

"Alex, this means so much to us, and it will mean so much to him too," she assured him.

"I know," he said with a smile. "The content of the rest of the cases is basically some new equipment, sent by Time Force to help you achieve your mission not only faster, but more safely too. Any questions?"

"How are we supposed to use all that new stuff?" Katie asked.

"Trip and Circuit can handle it," Alex assured her, causing Trip to blush slightly. Then Alex looked at Jen, who was staring at him lovingly, her tongue running over her lips without her noticing.

"Well," Lucas said, grasping Katie and Trip by a shoulder each, "I think that's our cue to go."

"Go where?" Trip asked, confused.

Katie took his hand and walked him towards the stairs. "To do that thing we had to do," she said, giving him a meaningful look. Raising her voice she added, "That thing that will take us a couple of hours to complete?"

Finally Trip looked at Jen and Alex, who were standing by the table, looking obviously embarrassed, and then back at Katie, who was still giving him a meaningful look, and tugging him by the arm. "Oh, that thing," he said, finally following them downstairs.

Alex and Jen laughed softly. Alex let a minute go by, pretending to be getting a closer look at the clock tower, until Jen said, "They're probably gone now."

"You think?" he said, trying not to sound too eager.

"I'm sure," she said, moving towards him slowly, almost like a feline. "It was really nice of them to go and do that thing that will take them a couple of hours to finish."

"Do you think we'll be finished with that thing we have to do in a couple of hours?" he asked, trying to sound innocent.

"I don't know," she said, finally reaching him and putting her hands on his shoulders. "It's been a while since we last did our thing. We have a lot to catch up on. So if we want to be done in a couple of hours," she moved her hands to the sides of his face, "We'd better get started." She pulled his face down and kissed him deeply and passionately.

He wrapped both arms around her waist and pulled her tighter towards him, feeling a fire burn inside of him, as strong as it had the first time he had taken her in his arms with the intention of doing what they were about to do. Their lips parted and he migrated his kisses to her neck, as he pushed her against the table forcing her to sit on it. She caressed his hair and asked, with a voice hoarse with passion, "The table, the couch or the mattress?"

"Which is closer?" he asked.

"The table, but it's quite uncomfortable," she said.

"Second closer?"

"The couch."

"Then the couch it is," he said, moving away from her, letting her stand up again. She moved towards the couch, leaving her leather jacket on the way. She felt him put his hands on her hips and unzip her skirt without too much ceremony. She took the waist of it and pushed it down sensually, uncovering the little black shorts she wore underneath it.

He groaned. "You are wearing too many clothes!"

She giggled and pressed herself to him, sliding her hand under his tank top and pulling it over his head, the sight of his naked torso filling her with pleasure again. She ran her hands up his back and felt the long, thin scar from where Ransik had struck, or so she thought.

"That's from the surgery," he whispered softly. "But let's not kill the mood," he begged.

Jen smiled and walked around him, pressing her lips softly against his scar, and kissing it, while her mischievous hands moved to his front and unbuttoned his pants, making sure to brush against the bulge lower down. His back arched a bit with anticipation. He turned in her arms and kissed her, running his fingers through her hair and taking the rim of her shirt, pulling it over her head.

"I missed you so much," he whispered hoarsely, licking his lips with anticipating passion.

"Are you sure you want to do this on the couch?" she asked against his neck, which she was covering with tiny kisses.

"Changed my mind," he said, picking her up and taking her to the highest level of the tower.

He placed her softly on her mattress and leaned on top of her, supporting his weight on his strong, well-defined arms. "I love you," he told her, looking into her eyes.

"It's you and me," she began, caressing his chest.

"Forever," he said, leaning in to kiss her.

And it was true.

* * *

Wes parked in front of the clock tower and entered, a smile of happiness and relief on his face. He couldn't wait to share the news with the other rangers. He climbed the stairs and when he was about to get to the main living area, he began hearing the noises.

He stopped and listened hard, it sounded like a soft banging, as if someone was hitting the wooden floor with something wrapped in a cloth. He entered the living area, all his senses alert. It seemed deserted. He moved towards the picnic table and left what he was carrying on it.

As he approached the staircase that led to the sleeping area, he heard the grunting, soft, muffled, as if it came from under a gag. "Jen," he whispered, after recognizing one of the voices. He climbed the rest of the stairs as quickly and silently as he could, and found Jen, but not precisely how he had imagined her. She was grunting, and she was banging, but not exactly in the sense Wes had pictured.

At the sight of Jen in the arms of Alex, looking in an ecstasy beyond words, Wes realized all his chances with her were gone now that Alex was alive and well. He had always known there couldn't be anything between him and Jen, at least nothing that would last, but he had always hoped to at least share a few months with her as more than friends.

Now he knew it wasn't going to happen.

With nowhere else to go, he descended to the living area and walked towards the couch, passed the pieces of clothing Jen and Alex had left behind, and sat down, listening to the sounds of their loving.

He didn't know how long it was until he heard her scream Alex's name over and over, proclaiming to love him, proclaiming he was fantastic and that he was the best thing to ever happen to her. Finally feeling he couldn't take it anymore, Wes went to the kitchen.

* * *

Alex and Jen lay panting next to each other, smiling with satisfaction. He caressed her sweaty hair and kissed her forehead, tasting her perspiration. "I hate to break it to you, but our two hours are almost over," she whispered.

"I know, we'd better get dressed again," he said sadly.

"After I capture Ransik we'll have more than just a couple of hours to ourselves," she promised.

"When did we ever have more than two hours to ourselves?" he asked, feeling guilty for his overworking, and his inability to make more time for them in his day-to-day life.

"Things will be different now," she promised, kissing his chest. "I love you," she said.

"And I love you," he whispered.

They got up and picked their clothes up, putting on what they had brought upstairs with them. They started to go downstairs, both shirtless, and they both stopped on their tracks as they saw Wes's figure sitting on the couch.

"Wes," Jen whispered. The blond man didn't turn to look at her. He was sitting up too straight on the couch, with his jacket over his arms. Jen and Alex finished descending the staircase, and moved slowly to him. "Wes, how long have you been here?" Jen asked, trying to get closer. Alex grabbed her by the arm and stopped her. She looked at him and he shook his head softly.

"Wes?" he asked. "Mr. Collins, how long have you been here?"

"Mr. Collins is my father," the other man finally said in a hoarse whisper. "He is fine, the surgery worked," he informed them.

"That's great, Wes," Jen said.

"He wasn't that seriously hurt," Wes continued as if he hadn't heard her. "So I guess all the dramatic look in his eyes was just an act," he said, staring at Alex.

"Mr. Collins, I swear I didn't know how serious your father's condition was for real," Alex said.

"Of course you didn't! You didn't care about him, you just used him to push me aside and take everything that was mine!" Wes finally stood up; his jacket fell to the floor, revealing a butcher knife in his right hand.

"Oh, my god! Wes!" Jen screamed, scared. "Wes, what are you doing?"

"What am I doing! What are YOU doing!" he said, waving the knife around. "You flirted with me, made me fall in love with you, and when you knew, when you knew I loved you without remedy, you left me for him! What does he have that I don't?"

"Oh, my god," she whispered, looking at Alex. "I swear I didn't flirt with him at any time." Alex just nodded, not taking his eyes off Wes.

"What does he have that I don't! Does he love you more? Do you think that cheap DNA copy of me can love you as much as I do!"

"What is wrong with you!" she asked, desperately.

"If I kill him, if he dies for real, will you love me?" Wes asked.

"Wes, you don't know what you're saying," she said.

"Of course I do! You loved me when he was supposedly dead; if he dies, then you'll love me again," he said, as if it were the most logical thing in the world. He moved towards Alex who took a step back. "I know what I have to do now to get you to love me!" he yelled, jumping towards Alex, the knife thrust forward.

"No!" Jen yelled, jumping in front of Alex, and almost feeling the knife thrusting into her flesh, clutching Alex's neck.

After a few seconds she realized she wasn't hurt, and that she was crying. Alex stood there, unable to believe what had just happened. Wes had jumped to stab him, Jen had leaped in front of him, and out of nowhere, Katie's hand had wrapped around Wes's wrist and had thrust him backwards, throwing him across the room, where he was sitting, looking miserable.

Jen was shaking when Lucas handed her a glass of water. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, regaining control of herself, and moving towards Wes, who looked perfectly harmless without the butcher knife and the crazy look in his eyes. "What the hell was that?" she asked.

Wes looked up at her, obviously embarrassed. "I don't know what I was thinking, I'm so sorry, Jen, and you, Alex; I have been awake for forty-eight hours, my father was about to die, I had to take control of a company I'm not ready to direct yet, it was just a lot of things at once and I needed an outlet." He tried to explain. "I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt any of you."

"You didn't mean to harm us with a butcher knife?" Jen asked, now anger rising to her throat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, it was just a joke," he said.

"You tried to kill my husband-to-be with a butcher knife as a joke?"

"I wasn't trying to kill him!" Wes said, getting up from the couch and moving towards Alex. "It was a joke."

"Then why would you jump towards him with a knife if not to stab him!" Jen asked.

"The knife wasn't for Alex," Wes said, looking around at the disbelieving faces. "The knife wasn't for him and I can prove it!"

"Really, how?" Jen asked.

"Alex, would you move a little bit to the right?" Wes asked. Alex did as he was told, and Wes pointed at the table with a triumphant look.

"What?" Jen said, as Wes moved towards the table, opened a little white box and withdrew a chocolate cake from it.

"I brought a cake for us to celebrate that everything had turned out ok. I just thought I'd make a little joke with the knife before we cut it, I didn't think you'd get so scared. I'm sorry," he said. Everyone, including Alex, began laughing, except for Jen, who looked at Wes with anger-filled eyes.

"Wesley Collins, I'm going to kill YOU!" she yelled, running after Wes, who had run for a quick escape.

* * *

The rangers stood by the ship, all ready for their goodbyes. "Trip," Alex began. "If you have any problems with the new equipment don't hesitate to contact me, ok?"

Trip nodded. "Thanks for everything."

"Katie, thank you for, umm, saving my life," Alex said, and they both laughed.

"You have no idea of what the message from my family meant to me," she said.

"Lucas," Alex said, and stopped, realizing he had nothing to say to the blue ranger. "Thanks for falling in line and not questioning my every move, for a change," he said after thinking a bit.

"Don't get used to it," Lucas warned playfully.

"I won't." Alex then moved towards his double. "Wesley Collins, it's been an honor," he said, offering his hand.

Wes shook it. "Sorry about the joke."

"It's alright," Alex said. Then he moved towards the most painful of them. "Jen..."

"Hush," she said, putting her index finger on his lips. "Don't say anything," she pleaded.

He removed her finger softly. "I love you. I'll miss you like crazy, and I'll be with you, watching over you, protecting and supporting you always," he promised.

"Thank you, honey," she said. "I love you so much," she said, her voice finally breaking.

"Hey, hey," he said, caressing her hair. "Let's capture Ransik quickly, so we can plan that wedding at top speed, and then it'll be just you and me."

"Forever," she said with a smile. He kissed her tenderly, before he walked away to board the ship.

"Nice guy," Wes said, moving to Jen as the ship took off. "Too bad he had to leave, I would have loved to learn some of his tricks."

"You think that would make you a better red ranger?" Jen asked.

"No, but knowing how he made you scream like that earlier this afternoon would certainly make me a happier man," he said.

"You pervert!" Jen screamed, chasing him as he began to run across the sand.

And the show goes on…


End file.
